There’s a bad moon rising, and the son won’t make it better.

The opposition makes himself known in this issue, or perhaps “the adversary” is more apt.  Still wandering the wilderness, Michael is set upon by a devilishly clever figure who utilizes Michael’s knowledge of the trials of Jesus to push him towards the ends that hell only knows.  The battle of wills is no real contest, but it’s fascinating to watch the subtle machinations at work. 

Betvin Geant continues his persecution of the unstable Michael and has a lot of fun crafting the modern-day recreation of the temptation in the desert.  Of course, this time the Christ figure has some serious lightning powers at his disposal, but it’s really fun to watch the new character use the very tome he tries to subvert to push this possible second coming where he will.  It also casts a newer light on Michael’s father. Could the fire and brimstone minister be a stand in for the God of the Old Testament?  With his brusque and punitive nature, it could be a parallel I had missed until now with the addition of his counter.  I think that this continues to be a very smart work. The only thing that I wish for is for Michael to gain a bit of agency for himself, not being thrown one way and another by outsiders and his own scattershot manner.  A free-thinking man is what I begin to hope for, and I think that’s where the narrative is pushing us. 

Kay has a lot of fun in this issue. There are many spots where more and more traditional Biblical scenes are inserted into the story with a deft and subtle hand.  Elements in the background coalesce into halos and auras, while characters find themselves gesticulating from the elbows a lot, much like in stained glass.  The tone of the piece continues to feel like a cloudy day, where the heavens are about to open up and wash the Earth clean, which serves the story so very well.

This series continues to be very interesting, laying an original interpretation over the multiple Biblical iterations to create something quite new in a genre that can tend to be bogged down more in dogma than creativity.  There’s a lot more to be seen here, and I don’t think there will be much disappointment ahead.

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